The New York Times Building
and Times Center Auditorium
New York, NY/USA
Nighttime lighting for the New York Times building reinforces the elegance of the structure by creating a precise
gradation of light along its façades, brightest at the base of the tower and tapering to a soft glow at its summit. This was a
formidable technical challenge: there were no ledges or setbacks on which to conceal lighting equipment, so ground-level lights
stretched across the entire 850’ tall wall.
From a distance, night-time lighting gives the building a sensation of soaring lightness on the city skyline. From close-up,
lighting fixtures are customized to match architectural detailing and playfully painted taxicab yellow, contributing to the streetscape
of the Times Square District site.
In the lobby, lighting is used to highlight the building’s integrated exterior and interior architecture. By controlling illumination
levels through the depth of the space, the scheme draws one’s gaze through the interior garden courtyard and into the glass-walled Times
Center auditorium space beyond.
The lighting scheme is a pioneer in energy efficiency and ease of maintenance. Lighting for the building exterior uses 80% less energy
than lighting for the spire of the Empire State Building alone. The entire base building uses only 12 different lamp types – all by the
same manufacturer – radically simplifying maintenance of the lighting scheme.
